This weekend, a world of dance comes to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, as hopefuls from ethnic dance troupes across Northern California will audition for the 35th annual San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival.

"It's a great way to see the wonderful variety of cultures we have in this area," says Carlos Carvajal, co-artistic director of the festival. "Nowhere else can you do an international festival of this range in which all the participants live locally. Usually festivals as diverse as this have to bring people from other countries, but we have Mexico folklorico dancers, Indian dance, Spanish, Middle Eastern, Tibetan - and they're all local artists."

It's a bonanza for aficionados of world dance, of course, but Carvajal says the auditions are also fun for youngsters, as the performances are bite-size - five minutes per soloist, 10 minutes for each group performance. Plus, admission to the auditions includes in-and-out privileges throughout the day.

Between last weekend's auditions in Berkeley and this weekend's at the Yerba Buena Center, more than 100 companies will audition for the festival, including 70 groups, 11 duets and 22 soloists.

The panelists who select the performers who'll appear in June's Ethnic Dance Festival are experts in dance from various regions, Carvajal says, noting that he and co-artistic director CK Ladzekpo do not have a hand in the selection process. The judges evaluate each group on four criteria: technical execution and stage presence; production values such as music, costumes and props; the quality of the choreography; and the strength of the performers' connection to their cultural origins.

The festival website lists a schedule of the groups auditioning each day, and Carvajal says audiences often like to make their own tallies of which groups they favor.

"It's so colorful and exciting," Carvajal says. "It's just the best. Each day you can see 25 groups or soloists, see the difference in the styles, the way people dance. I wish more people could witness this."